tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448180.post110659946877252440..comments2006-09-19T09:46:12.356-05:00Comments on Spero Meliora: Hope is Everything: How Little We Understand OurselvesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448180.post-1107236740539221392005-01-31T23:45:00.000-06:002005-01-31T23:45:00.000-06:00I am having a tough time with this one for a coupl...I am having a tough time with this one for a couple reasons.<br /><br />First I know Arik Sharon is not stupid, he has proven himself to be far more capable than most of us have imagined. His government is playing a hand which has not yet been revealed, this is very much part of smart middle eastern politics, I say wait and see.<br /><br />I also am having a tough time with 'a sense of diminished expectations'. The leaders in these movements are often wealthy and driven by fairly high expectations. (Arafat having been one of the wealthiest men on the planet. And Osama not so poor either.) I could believe that what allows people to be sucked into these movements is some kind of disenfranchisement if not brainwashing. The history of modern Israel goes back to a time where the current excuses found no root. Arabs lived in relative harmony with Jews, the Jewish Agency purchased land from Arabs (often absentee landlords), The Turkish then the British Empire ruled the land - then the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan ran the West Bank as Egypt ruled Gaza. Yet as tensions grew (perhaps were provoked is a more accurate term) suitable excuses were always found, they sought a State, they chased us off the land, they occupied our land, they don't want us to have a State, we can't make peace with them... they don't want peace... they never wanted peace... It is a long story and the old solutions just don't ever seem to work which is why Barnett's shrink the gap is so appealing.Stuart Bermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18256512964425569731noreply@blogger.com